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The EAFS and the policy mix - Marco Buti

The recovery of the euro area has been particularly slow both by historical and international standards. Nine years after the economic and financial crisis struck, economic activity in the euro area is expanding at a moderate rate. However, the persistence of crisis legacies ─ such as the still-high unemployment rate and weak investment ─ suggest the recovery is not complete.

So far policy actions to support growth have excessively relied on monetary policy, resulting in an unbalanced policy mix. If monetary policy alone cannot lead to balanced growth, is there a case for an expansionary fiscal stance at the aggregate euro area level? Can this be reconciled with the Stability and Growth Pact?

The presentation explores the concept of fiscal space and the effectiveness of fiscal expansion in surplus countries for the euro area’s internal and external adjustment. Finally, it discusses the build-up over the medium term of a fiscal stabilisation function at the central level.

8.
• "Our growth must be shored up by well-designed
and coordinated policies. We are determined to
use all policy tools - monetary, fiscal and
structural - individually and collectively to
achieve our goal of strong, sustainable, balanced
and inclusive growth. Monetary policy will
continue to support economic activity and ensure
price stability, consistent with central banks’
mandates, but monetary policy alone cannot lead
to balanced growth."
• (G20 leaders' communique, 4/5 September 2016 Summit in Hangzhou)
2. The policy-mix: excessive reliance on MP

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3. The aggregate fiscal stance
Relevant concept from different points of view:
 Economic:
1. Coordination of fiscal policies is crucial in a monetary
union. Lack of central budget reinforces this need,
given spillovers.
2. Currently, there is no instrument to manage the
aggregate orientation of the fiscal stance.
 Legal
The Two Pack requires the Commission to 'make an
overall assessment of the budgetary situation in the
euro area as a whole' and 'outline measures to reinforce
the coordination of budgetary and macroeconomic
policies at the euro area level'

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3. The aggregate fiscal stance
• Commission adopted a recommendation for an
positive fiscal stance in 2017
• Need to support monetary policy of the ECB and rebalance
the overall policy mix of the euro area
• A positive fiscal stance of 0.5% is mid-way between the
expansion needed to half the euro area output gap or to
close it by 2017 [range: 0.2%-0.8%]
• Current fiscal stance conceals a very uneven and sub-
optimal fiscal distribution across Member States
• Surplus MS should channel excess savings to domestic
economy.
• Fiscal effort should be differentiated, taking spillovers into
account.

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4. Fiscal space
• "Fiscal space" is an increasingly relevant concept
• How to characterise the fiscal space
 One criterion directly drawn from the SGP: difference
between the SB and the country-specific MTO
 Difference between PB and PB*, where PB* is the norm
consistent with a long-run debt anchor, derived from:
banchor = PB*/(r*-g*)
• Durably lower interest rates and stronger growth
imply larger available fiscal space
 The average (r-g) on government bonds has fallen
considerably since the start of EMU.
 Generally low interest rates are expected to stay for a
while (e.g. Fisher 2016).

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5. Impact of an expansionary fiscal policy
• Fiscal policy supportive of growth is not only a
matter of the sign of the budget balance but also of
the quality of the underlying public finances
Average efficiency of govt I Low efficiency of govt I

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5. Impact of an expansionary fiscal policy
• DE's CA surplus is linked to a persistent demand
shortfall, which:
Does not support effort by MP to overcome very
low inflation
Does not help the deleveraging process in EA
• Strengthening public investment in DE would:
Help address the demand slack in both DE and
REA, while strengthening growth potential.
Contribute to a more symmetric rebalancing in
the EA
Lead to a quite modest correction in DE's CA
surplus over the short to medium term

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5. Impact of an expansionary fiscal policy
• The public sector in DE is contributing to excess
savings at the global level
• However, impact of fiscal expansion on global
imbalances is very muted under ZLB scenario
 Under a ZLB scenario:
Expansionary FP Decline RIR K outflows ER
depreciation Increase in exports
 This compensates for the increased domestic demand
• The fact that the US is already away from ZLB (but
not the EA) is also contributing to the euro
depreciation

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6. Policy orientations: four take-aways
1. Respecting fiscal rules enshrined in the SGP:
Fiscal sustainability concerns are particularly
relevant for some MS, which should consolidate
Also in light of likely increase in long-term
interest rates
2. Those MS who have fiscal space should use it:
Particularly effective at ZLB in boosting growth
at both domestic and EA level (higher
multipliers/ higher spillover effects).
Contribute to a symmetric unwinding of EA
imbalances

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6. Policy orientations: four take-aways
3. Greater focus on the quality of public finances:
Identify priority areas that would benefit from
increased/better spending or shifts in taxation
Increase the shock-absorbing properties of
automatic stabilisers
4. Create a central fiscal capacity, with two windows:
Earmarked grants for investments
Reinsurance of national unemployment benefits
Access conditional to compliance with a
convergence code